Indian author Arundhati Roy is facing possible arrest in Indian on sedition charges after she publicly advocated for Kashmir independence and challenged India’s claim that Kashmir is a, quote, "integral part of India." Roy could face up to life in prison for calling on the Indian government and the world to allow the Kashmir people to speak for themselves.
Defending the sedition charges, Roy comments: "I said what millions of people here say every day...I spoke about justice for the people of Kashmir who live under one of the most brutal military occupations in the world."
And she beautifully goes on to say to Amy Goodman:
"Pity the nation that has to silence its writers for speaking their minds. Pity the nation that needs to jail those who ask for justice, while communal killers, mass murderers, corporate scamsters, looters, rapists, and those who prey on the poorest of the poor, roam free."
(WHY IS SHE NOT COVERED/INTERVIEWED IN MAINSTREAM MEDIA?)
But best of all - Roy calls on the international community to pay attention - something I don't feel you hear very often - but this might be a benefit of globalization.....the possibility of activism on an international level. Additionally awesome to me is Amy Goodman asking Roy what we should do....this I feel you do not get from interviewers and broadcasters often enough - a quest for action. Very often, I feel, reporters and interviewers do not probe interviewees further for ways the international community can rally together and act....not just passively listen to the awful plight of people around the world whose government's are not coming to their aid. (I'm thinking of Newmont now too).
Equally awesome Roy says:
"But I think that the most important thing is now not to allow India or Pakistan to speak for Kashmiri people, you know? Because Kashmiri people need a space in which to think. They’ve just lived all their lives with a palatine bag over their heads and a gun pointed at their temples. They need—somebody needs to create the space for them to be able to say what they want, because this is a whole population that is in—living in the most insufferable conditions."
Though I've quoted a great deal - there is more: http://www.democracynow.org/2010/10/27/acclaimed_indian_author_arundhati_roy_faces
Kudos to Goodman, she always asks the most probing questions, and to Roy for always speaking up in defense of others. Along with many other topics, this story speaks to the problem of speaking for others. As Roy says, rather than simply making decisions concerning Kashmiris or speaking about/for them, someone should use their privilege to enable Kashmiris to speak for themselves. I think this is applicable in many global situations where marginalized groups are simply further marginalized by some well-intentioned human rights organizations who ultimately change nothing.
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